Launch of Iran's first nuclear power station delayed again

The head of Iran's nuclear power station development programme, Assadollah Sabouri, told AFP Sunday that "the start-up will be delayed a bit" -- but did not give any new date for the scheduled firing up of the facility.

He was speaking during a visit to the plant by Russia's atomic energy head Sergei Kiriyenko. Russia is engaged in an 800- million- dollar project to develop the facility, which has already been hit by a string of delays.

Kiriyenko did not tell reporters when the plant would begin operating. He insisted that the delays were "not political but technical". Russia has faced stiff opposition -- especially from the United States and Israel -- to its dealings with Iran.

However, an official from Iran's Atomic Energy Organisation, who asked not to be named, complained that "the Russians are not delivering the equipment and technology necessary for the start of the reactor".

"The delay is only political: if it was just a technical question it could be solved in a matter of months," he alleged. "We hope the reactor can start before the end of 2006, we hope there will not be further delay".

Iran is accused of using its atomic energy drive as a cover for weapons development, a charge it denies.

"We have decided to establish a follow-up committee so that the plant will be ready in a minimum amount of time and so that the rest of the equipment be shipped, and to create a commitee to accelerate the work in 2006 and to finish it in 2006," said the head of Iran's Atomic Energy Organisation, Gholam Reza Aghazadeh.

Kiriyenko said there was no plan to stall the shipping of fuel to the plant.

"We see no problem with the delivery of fuel, it will not slow down the completion of the plant," Kiriyenko told reporters. "The fuel will be delivered in due time to start the plant."

The project was first launched by the former shah of Iran, Mohammad Reza Pahlavi, in the 1970s. The German firm Kraftwerk-Union, a joint venture of Siemens and AEG-Telefunken, was commissioned to build the facility, but pulled out in the midst of Iran's 1979 Islamic revolution.

The plant was frequently targetted by Iraqi jets during the 1980-88 Iran- Iraq war.

In the early 1990's, Iran began to search for help to revive the project, and in 1995 found help from Russia -- desperately in need of cash to keep its own nuclear power industry afloat.

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